by J. M. Briggs
“Nicki is doing well, it was an adjustment living with her, but we’ve got everything worked out even if it is odd finding long red hair everywhere. Bran seems to be alright and Aiden is doing well. We’ve been working on getting better at our…” Alex glanced around and lowered her voice, “Talents lately.”
“Has something happened?”
“Sort of, there is this thing from another world sort of like the Sídhe that is coming towards Ravenslake. It has minions; the others were actually attacked right after homecoming. They’re okay, but we’re being really careful now. Nicki actually drove me over here just to be on the safe side.”
“Shit,” Jenny muttered under her breath, her eyes wide and nervous. “Sorry about that then.”
“No, I wanted to see you and talk properly,” Alex reminded her with a genuine smile. “One thing I’ve learned in all of this is that you can’t just give up your day to day life.” She pushed the gift bag closer to Jenny. “Happy birthday Jenny, I hope that things keep looking up for you.”
“Thank you,” Jenny told her with a real smile.
Jenny handled the bag gently, pulling out the two small gift boxes. A small squeak escaped Jenny as she recognized the logo of the local candy shop. She opened that box quickly, setting the other to the side. Alex smiled when the small individual chocolates were revealed and her roommate popped one into her mouth.
“What about that healthy diet?”
“Hush you, it’s my birthday,” Jenny scolded lightly with a blissful expression. “Just lovely, there’s one thing I taught you: how to shop for the best chocolates.”
“For what they cost they’d better be good,” Alex replied with a loud tisk.
Jenny carefully closed up the box and slipped it back in the gift bag as their drinks were set down in front of them. Alex took a sip of her soda, enjoying the burst of sugar and caffeine as Jenny turned her attention to the second box. It was a plain small white box without any marks that jangled slightly when Jenny moved it.
“Jewelry?” Jenny guessed with a glance to Alex.
When she merely shrugged, Jenny gently opened the box and grinned. Inside was nestled a small pair of glass and ceramic earrings made in different shades of purple that Alex had bought at the Russell Gallery. Nicki had directed her there to find something distinct for Jenny’s birthday and she was pretty sure that Samantha Russell had given her a big discount given the pricing on the other jewelry.
“Alex these are just perfect,” Jenny cheered as she held the up against the sleeve of her purple turtleneck shirt. “They’ll go great with my fall stuff.”
“When I saw them I remembered how much you wear that shirt in the autumn.”
“I look great in purple,” Nicki replied with a shrug as she carefully put on the earrings. “How do they look?”
“They look great on you,” Alex assured her, inwardly very pleased with herself.
Their food arrived only moments later, the rather large plates being set down in front of them along with a bottle of ketchup.
“So to address the elephant in the room,” Jenny said calmly as she sliced her sandwich into quarters, “How is the other stuff?”
“Slow going,” Alex admitted as she poured ketchup on her plate next to the fries. “Our new enemy means that we have to learn to use our abilities in new ways. All of us have a more natural manifestation of the energy that we use easily. In theory, since all the energy comes from the earth then it can take any form, but it is pretty hard.”
“You’ll get it,” Jenny said encouragingly even though Alex could tell she didn’t really understand what she was saying. “So your power comes from the earth; that’s what makes you… you know?”
“Yeah, that’s how it works.”
“So do you think that the earth is actually alive? Some of this stuff makes it sound like it is...”
“Well…” Alex paused and frowned slightly. “It’s weird. I think it is a living changing system, but does it have a consciousness… I don’t know. Then again, it made the Iron Soul and that seems like an intelligent act to me.”
“What do… the professors think?”
“I’m not sure; we haven’t really talked about that. There’s always other stuff to do. We have to practice or discuss how to protect ourselves.” Alex frowned and toyed with a French fry. “I guess there’s still a lot we don’t know, but Nicki and I looked up Bronze Age Britain one night. It seems that back then they may not have had deities like we think about, but rather that they revered the earth and their ancestors who joined it. I know Nicki wants to ask, but we’re not sure how sensitive Merlin and Morgana are about discussing their past.”
“I don’t know how you do it,” Jenny admitted, shaking her head. “Deal with all this; just knowing a little bit about it has really thrown me off.”
“Knowing that magic is sometimes real or something specific?” Alex asked, taking a sip of her drink. “To be honest it throws me sometimes.”
“I think what bothers me the most are the religious implications of it,” Jenny admitted with a slight frown. “Since I found out I’ve been trying to understand it in terms of my religion; it’s important to me and in light of… everything else I didn’t want to lose that.”
“I don’t understand you still being religious,” Alex admitted carefully. “Knowing that magic is real and that there are other universes doesn’t exactly fit most religious views, at least not ones that are still around.”
“But clearly souls are real, Lance and I wouldn’t have-” Jenny cut herself off, but recovered with a smile. “There is clearly something significant about them and that holds with my religious ideas.”
“Sure souls are real, but it might have nothing to do with a deity,” Alex reminded her with a shrug, searching her head for something to say. “It could be a collection of memories given form by magical energy or something like that. And after all, the problems we have are because of different universes coming into contact.”
“But that could mean that it was God who created magic and gave mages their power. From the little I was told the power you have comes and goes, it isn’t constant.”
“I suppose that is possible,” Alex conceded carefully. “But if it was some kind of real deity, not just a being from another universe that has a lot of power, then it still doesn’t match up with most religious visions.”
It was Jenny’s turn to frown, but she shook her head and straightened up. Despite their differing opinions, Alex had the sense that Jenny was enjoying the little debate.
“Do you really not wonder about this?” Jenny pressed. “Wonder if it is proof there is a God and a plan?”
“Of course I wonder,” Alex scoffed, toying with the straw in her drink for a moment. “Sometimes when I’m lying in my bed it is all I can think about. The repercussions of all of this, all the questions I want to ask the professors and how it’s affected my view of the world. But in the end I need sleep and this war needs to be fought. There are always more important things to worry about and those concerns override everything else.”
“What is it like, being like you are and doing this?” Jenny asked, nibbling at her bottom lip lightly. “Nicki told me about what you do, but at the time… well, I was thinking more about what it meant for me and Arthur and Lance. But what is it like?”
Alex froze as the question sunk in, her mind suddenly feeling like it had stalled. Then there was a rush of a million tiny little thoughts, images and even smells that pushed their way to the front of her mind. She had no idea of how to respond and felt herself swallow awkwardly. The answers that should have been on the tip of her tongue were: terrifying, frustrating, confusing and overwhelming. Yet those weren’t the words that were trying to come forward.
Since she’d actually started using her magic and become a part of the team something had changed. She’d changed: it had crept up on her, but she had changed in small little ways that blended with her normal life. Alex’s throat felt tight, but she managed t
o swallow, becoming aware of how Jenny was watching her and waiting for an answer.
“It’s strange. Sometimes it’s very scary and I feel the urge to flee, but I don’t and I know that I won’t. Sometimes it is frustrating because there just so much that I don’t know and sometimes it is overwhelming because there is just so much that I need to know. The professors are teaching us slowly, just what we need to know, but I know that there are literally worlds out there that I’ll discover one day.” Alex realized that she was waving her hands around as she spoke and tried to still them. “But I’m not alone and I know that it matters, I guess. I never saw myself as a hero, just figured I was a decent person, but I was never going to be anything great. Now I know that my life matters; I’ve done something important.” Alex smiled, feeling a warm flutter in her chest that she hadn’t felt often in her life. “I saved those kids from the Sídhe, I turned around to help them and risked my life to help them. They don’t remember me or what happened, but they are out there living their lives because of me. It’s strange but wonderful. It might not always be that way, but for now… it feels like something to be proud of.”
Jenny nodded vaguely, an expression that Alex couldn’t quite read on her face. The conversation focused on particulars about their classes and teachers after that. Alex focused on eating her dinner and asking Jenny for more details about her journalism classes. The tension drained away from Jenny and her eyes lit up as she talked about her broadcasting class. She was so excited by the material and it struck Alex that she might be watching her friend on the evening news one day. It certainly wouldn’t surprise her, as long as her friend kept in mind that reporting on magic was a bad idea.
Eventually, they finished their meals and began to get the ‘time for you to go’ looks from the waitresses as more people came into the diner. Alex paid for dinner up at the main counter while Jenny said a quick hello to a student from one of her classes. She didn’t pay much attention as Jenny made the quick introduction, her eyes drawn to the front door as a group of young men entered, Lance among them. Next to her, she heard Jenny suck in a sharp breath, but otherwise, her friend retained her composure.
They began heading for the main door, but Lance stopped them. His shoulders straightened and the smile on his face became fixed and tense. Alex stopped just in front of the doorway, glancing nervously between Jenny and Lance. Neither of them said anything, even though Lance cleared his throat and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
“Hello Lance,” Alex finally greeted with a forced wide smile. “We were just finishing our dinner.”
“Uh great,” Lance replied, stumbling over his words even as his eyes remained locked on Jenny. “Happy birthday.”
“Thank you, and thank you for the card, it was sweet,” Jenny told him, her eyes wide and her smile faltering. She gripped Alex’s hand, squeezing it tightly.
“We’re blocking traffic,” Alex announced, getting the help signal from Jenny. “Have a good night; we’ll see you around.”
Without waiting for Lance to respond, Alex pulled Jenny towards the door. As her roommate slipped outside, Alex glanced over her shoulder and gave Lance what she hoped was an apologetic look. His expression was too much like a kicked puppy for her to bear and she followed Jenny outside. Taking a deep breath, Alex tensed up at the sudden temperature change.
“Yikes,” Alex groaned, zipping up her jacket and shoving her hands into her pockets. “It’s freezing out here.”
“My car is around the corner,” Jenny told Alex, gesturing down the street. “Come on, I’ll give you a ride back so you don’t have to disturb Nicki or walk home alone.”
“Thanks, that’d be great,” Alex replied, shifting on her feet in an attempt to warm up.
“It’s the least I can do.” Jenny sounded sad and distant. “Sorry about Lance, that was weird.”
“A little, but it’s normal or as normal as things are for us,” Alex said, trying to lighten the mood.
“Yeah,” Jenny agreed weakly with a small shrug.
The street was filled with parked cars crammed into every little space they could manage along the streets of downtown. Alex frowned as another shiver worked its way down her spine. Despite all the cars it was really quiet on the street. They were some of the only people out she noticed, watching an older man scurry into the small lounge and casino across the street.
“It’s really quiet out here,” Jenny whispered nervously. “Come on. I don’t like this.”
“I know,” Alex told her, trying to understand what was happening. Then her teeth chattered and she tensed up with realization. Her chest tightened and Alex pulled her hands out of her pockets.
“Jenny, you should go back inside, quickly,” Alex ordered as she glanced around. “A Shadow is here.”
Looking around, Alex tried to find where the creature was as Jenny slowly backed away from her. Alex could see that she was conflicted and forced a smile.
“You can’t help Jenny so please go get safe. I’m not sure, but it seems like people are repulsed by these things without even knowing it.”
“But you’re on your own,” Jenny protested weakly.
Then Alex heard a soft growl down the alley behind the diner. She backtracked up the sidewalk past Jenny quickly and looked down into the narrow gravel alley. A bright light hung above the backdoor of the diner, illuminating the small open space between the door and the trash bins. Just beyond the radius of light, Alex saw a ripple in the darkness. Her chest tightened as a Shadow slinked into view. Around it, the light dimmed leaving the creature’s glowing red eyes as the brightest things in the alleyway.
15
View from a Hillside
804 B.C.E. Northern Cornwall
It was a perfect day, Arto decided as he inhaled the fresh air and looked out over the valley. From the hill he could see the pastures with their earthen boundaries where men and their dogs worked to move the livestock, he could see the fields were the crops for the coming year were growing and he could see the wisps of smoke rising from the roundhouses safely tucked in the fortified village. The wooden walls and gate did little against the Sídhe, but even now he could feel the soft pulse of his blood spell. If he closed his eyes, Arto thought he might even feel the magic of the nearby Iron Gate that sealed off the area.
Lying back in the grass, Arto let out a soft sigh and stared up at the bright blue sky. A few wisps of clouds were scattered high above him and the summer sun was beaming down. The grass under his back tickled his bare skin, his shirt discarded next to Cathanáil beside him. Breathing deeply, he could detect the scent of livestock and a hint of the coming harvest. Nothing was ready yet, but the indications were for a good year. It was just as well; trade routes were being disrupted more and more by the Sídhe and two weeks ago Medraut had put men armed with iron weapons on guard duty for the fields and pastures. Morgana had approved of the precaution; in fact, it was the first things Medraut had ever done that his sister had approved of. Her disapproval of him had become something of a running joke in the village.
“This is nice,” Gwenyvar observed with a soft sigh on his other side.
Turning his head, Arto smiled at the sight of his wife sitting contently in the soft grass with a half-finished reed basket in her lap. A pile of reeds soaking in a bowl of water was at her feet and her long hair was only half bound up, blowing in the gentle breeze. On the other side of her was Luegáed who was lounging back on the grass and chewing on a long blade of grass, his sword nearby along with the whetstone he’d been using only minutes before. There was a sense of calm surrounding the three of them that made Arto feel safe and happy.
“I wish it was like this more often,” Gwenyvar added wistfully. “You’re gone so often.”
“I wish things were different too,” Arto told her gently, reaching out and brushing her hand as she reached for a fresh reed. “But I am needed out there. There are more gates every season and soon the Sídhe will have nowhere to go. The end of this war
is coming fast, I can feel it.”
“He’s right,” Luegáed called to Gwenyvar, an easy and happy smile on his face. Arto was struck by it for a moment, remembering only a few years ago when his friend had just joined them, nervous and unsure of his place. “Arto has created gates in the northlands, the plains, by the white cliffs and even in my homeland! There’s little more the Sídhe can do.”
“Cornered and wounded animals are the most dangerous,” Gwenyvar reminded them, her frown deepening as her eyes dropped to the basket in her lap. “I worry about you both when you are gone; I know that you look after each other, but it is not as reassuring as knowing that you are home.”
“We are both good warriors Gwen,” Luegáed assured her gently. “I won’t tell you not to worry as it is your nature, but please remind yourself of that when you do worry.”
“Gwen?” Arto repeated, raising his head to look towards his best friend and wife. “When did that start?”
